


little mornings

by asexuelf



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Cute, Early Mornings, Family, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Parent-Child Relationship, Post-Canon, Post-Dragon Age: Inquisition, Tevene (Dragon Age), Trans Fenris (Dragon Age), possibly ooc but i needed some fluff ;__;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 14:57:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21394075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexuelf/pseuds/asexuelf
Summary: The thing that wakes Fenris is not the bright morning rays shining through the window, the hustle and bustle of the city outside the walls, or the kiss of his husband. These are the things that normally wake him, but not this morning.
Relationships: Anders/Fenris (Dragon Age)
Kudos: 25





	little mornings

**Author's Note:**

> fenders babies are based off of some other ocs of mine, so hopefully they feel like people. also, i wanted to make the family a little more realistic, so i based the relationships slightly off my own experiences with half-siblings and step parents.
> 
> i'm pretty sure this earns an easy g-rating, but let me know if you think otherwise. i had some difficulty placing that for some reason...
> 
> end note has some explanations on the tevene/ander used.
> 
> anyways, hope you enjoy!

The thing that wakes Fenris is not the bright morning rays shining through the window, the hustle and bustle of the city outside the walls, or the kiss of his husband. These are the things that normally wake him, but not this morning.

What wakes Fenris this morning is a lack of air to his lungs - not by suffocation, but by a heaviness on his chest that is in the familiar shape of a butt and the familiar weight of a six year old.

Indeed, when Fenris squints his eyes open and attempts to sit up, he is greeted with the sight of his young son. He finds himself pinned down by Karl's weight and sighs, resigned for the moment.

"Hello, Mamatus," says Karl, his mouth full of jelly candy. Based on the light on the walls, it is still quite early - far too early for sweets. "Good morning to you!"

Fenris rubs at his eyes. "Where did you get that?"

Eyes wide and deceptively innocent, Karl shrugs. This is not a very good answer, but it's likely the only one he'll be willing to give. 

Sighing, Fenris sits up properly, careful to keep Karl sitting up, too, lest he choke. As much as he wants to flop down and get another few moments of rest, he's never been able to leave his children unattended with food. The anxiety's simply too much, especially after-

Halfway through his thought, he's interrupted by Karl shoving a fist in front of his eyes. He goes cross-eyed, but the hand is too close to see anything but a blur of color.

"Would you like one?"

Ah, he's being offered a sweet. So generous, their Karl, always happy to share. Fenris sighs fondly and opens his mouth. Karl clumsily squashes one of the candies into Fenris' mouth, wiping it off on his sleep shirt. 

_ Here's something we can do_, Fenris thinks. Getting Karl dressed for the day is usually a complicated affair, since he does so love his pajamas, but- oh Maker, what is in his mouth?

The sweet itself is fine, even squashed by little hands, but coating it is a layer of foul-tasting grit. "Ough - my darling son, what is on your hands?"

Karl shrugs happily. "I'yunno! I live an exciting life that way."

Despite the horrible thing in his mouth, Fenris can't help but laugh. "Exciting, is it? You are much more optimistic than your matus." Probably more than his vati, too, but such is the nature of their Karl. He really is the light of the household.

"I like to have a positive outlook." Case in point.

More fond laughter bubbles in Fenris' chest. He swallows heavily to avoid gagging and gives Karl's forehead a quick kiss. "I'm glad. I like when you're happy." He nuzzles the boy's squishy (and sticky) cheek. "Where is your sister?"

"Probably being mean somewhere." A true enough statement about Libora, but not a terribly kind one.

Still, it's a bit too early to reprimand him - especially when his vati is the one that does that more often than not - so Fenris simply snarks, "Is that your positive outlook on the situation?"

"Well… I have to be realistic, too."

The face Karl shoots him is so terribly Anders that he can't even find it in himself to be offended on his daughter's behalf. Poor, tormented Libora will get hers soon enough anyhow; she really is quite mean when she likes to be. If her stepfather is justice, then she is revenge, and whatever comes before that too.

Fenris sighs and shakes his head. "Alright. Well, why don't we get dressed and see if we can find Soror and Vati?" 

Karl makes a face but nods anyways. He must have been eating his jelly candies on Fenris for a while then, if he's folding so quickly. The boy is probably well and bored by now.

"Why didn't Vati take you to work today?"

Again, Karl shrugs. "I'unno. He didn't wake me either." He slides off the bed, his mamatus watching carefully in case he falls. No one needs head or arm injuries this early in the morning, even if Vati _ is _ a healer. "Probably Libby went with him is why, 'cuz I haven't seen her."

That surprises him. Though Libora and Anders are family, there's still that odd distance between them. Anders doesn't want to force himself into her life or pressure her into spending time with him, she has a hard time trusting men after their life in Tevinter, and so on… It makes things complicated. 

And, of course, making this even more surprising is the fact that Libby hates waking up before lunchtime is half-over. If Libora is awake before the noon bell is rung, it's either because she hasn't slept or the world is ending. And Libora slept through the giant green tear in the sky opening _ and _closing.

"Is she sick?" Fenris asks aloud, more to himself than to Karl.

"Don't think so." Fenris watches as Karl struggles to wipe mess off his face, slurring his words. "She wasn't sneezing or anything. Not even coughing in her sleep like when she got Yemonima"

"Pneumonia, _ carus._" Wetting his thumb, Fenris makes quick work of Karl's face. They'll need a proper wash to get all the stickiness off, but he can handle the food crumbs and dirt(?) for now. "I suppose we'll see when we get to the clinic, won't we?"

"I guess." The boy sighs sullenly. "Can I go in my pajamas?"

"You may not."

"Oughf."

"Well put." 

Another still-too-sticky kiss and Karl is off to he and Libora's room for, hopefully, a clean shirt. While Karl is occupied, Fenris can dress himself too, maybe even prepare breakfast. He may not have reprimanded Karl for eating sweets so early, but he _ will _ get that boy to eat some real food before they leave!

Hopefully he won't have to be stern. He's never been good at being stern with his children.

Ready and dressed, Fenris leaves his room only to run into Karl - who is, shockingly, already dressed as well. It usually takes him much longer, picky as he is about fabrics.

"Is that your sister's skirt?"

The skirt in question is long and dark, down to the ankle on Karl but probably to the knee on Libby. It's an old thing, likely stuffed in the back of her closet to be forgotten about. She never wears it.

"She never wears it," Karl says, and he's right, Fenris was just thinking that, but whether Libby will feel the same way is yet to be seen.

Fenris sighs. "Well, at least it's clean. You have to tell her you borrowed it, though. You know how she is about her things."

"Whatever, it's fine." Karl bunches some of the skirt in one of his hands to avoid tripping when he turns. 

When he does, he shows Fenris his back - and more namely, a big stain on the back of the shirt that suggests it is _ not _ as clean as it could be, but it is tucked cutely into the skirt and doesn't seem to smell, so Fenris is sure it'll be fine. They're just going about town anyway; it's not as if there's not many people to impress with fancy shirts at Anders' clinic.

Fenris follows Karl to the kitchen. "I'll make you eggs and fruit. Do you want apple slices or an orange?

"What?" The face Karl gives him is much less Anders this time and much more Mamatus. "I already ate, though. I don't want eggs."

"Karl, you need real food or you'll be sick. The walk will jostle your belly."

"Will not."

It's too early for this. "_Karl,_ don't make me tattle to Vati. You know he takes health seriously."

With a put-upon huff, Karl drops himself into a dining chair, crossing his arms to let Mamatus know he finds the whole thing offensive. "Fine. But I want plum."

"We're out of plum, _ carus_."

"Ugh! What a terrible day."

To avoid laughing, Fenris sighs very sympathetically and makes his way to Karl. He kneels a little to make them eye-level and puts a caring hand on Karl's shoulder. "If you eat some eggs, just a little bit, we'll pick up a plum on the way to Vati's work."

Karl has a very bad poker face. He looks at Fenris from the corner of his eye and tries very hard not to look interested. "...Promise?"

"I never lie to you."

"I know." With Karl's face smoothing out, Fenris leans forward to kiss his nose. His nose is, thankfully, not at all sticky, and when Fenris pinches his cheek, that isn't sticky either.

"Did you clean up?"

"Yeah."

Pleased, Fenris begins to scramble some eggs. Though the morning began out of the ordinary and the mystery with Libby is yet unsolved, it appears that today is going to be a very good day.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 💖 might write a part 2 if anyone's interested.
> 
> mamatus/matus is my own tevene latin-frankenstein-monster. "-us" is usually male, mater is mother, matus is mother but with an "-us" designating that fenris is a man. 'mamatus' is just like, the 'mommy' form. it felt more fenris to use this than patus or papa, but i'm sure his children call him by those every once in a while as well.
> 
> if i remember correctly, carus is latin for "thing of great value" and is used both in a financial sense ("costly") and an emotional one... let's just say tevene is a little more tender and wipe away the financial context. 
> 
> and vati is german - fanon ander - for dad/daddy. there are other options, like 'papa', but i really like vati. it just has a certain vibe.
> 
> this end note is too long. thanks again for stopping by! 💖💕


End file.
